This invention is in the field of digital image storage and display. In particular it relates to methods for resizing digital images.
Digital images, whether generated by computer or captured from a video camera or other video source, often need to be scaled in size before being displayed on a CRT or printed by an output device such as a laser printer. The images may need to be either enlarged or shrunk.
Known methods for resizing digital images usually involve the calculation of a special table for each different image size. The table contains the scaling factors which will be applied to the digital data to resize the image. Calculating each table is time consuming, requiring from 1 to 8 seconds and many complex calculations. Resizing the digital image using the tables is even more time consuming. As each color in the digital image requires a separate table and separate processing, the resizing of a single digital color image is generally a very time consuming and processor intensive task.
Certain systems use specialized hardware to speed up the resizing process. Unfortunately, this solution is extremely expensive and limited in the available scaling options.
No known method for resizing digital images is both fast and inexpensive.